The Newcomer
by I-Am-TutorGirl
Summary: Daryl is excited to see Connie as he anticipates her arrival at Alexandria for a supply drop. However, things get complicated when she arrives with a new group of people and she seems particularly close to one.


Daryl had been so excited to see Connie. He knew she was on the way with supplies to drop off some new survivors that had already been vetted at Hilltop and living there for the past 2 weeks. They were going to stay at Alexandria for a while and help out with rebuilding some of the wall structure that was aging and becoming weak. Apparently, some of the new survivors had worked in construction before all of this happened, so he was definitely willing to let them help them rebuild, especially if they were vetted by Connie. He could trust her instincts.

"Open the gates! They're here!" Rosita shouted.

The gates opened and in walked Aaron, Kelly, Magna, Eugene, 3 news faces and Connie. Just the sight of her sent tingles through his body. There had definitely been a spark there since they had met that had grown inside him and warmed him as those sparks turned into a roaring fire. They had almost kissed once, but got interrupted by Kelly. He couldn't stop thinking about that moment. Connie was smiling and laughing while talking to an unfamiliar, yet attractive face, and Daryl suddenly felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of water on that fiery blaze. He was a fit guy, attractive, made Connie laugh and also knew sign language. Connie and Daryl normally greet each other immediately, but Connie had to go help put supplies away. She nodded at from across the way and gave a wave. Her beautiful smile started to bring that spark back as he waved back, still worried about this new guy.

Aaron approached Michonne, Gabriel, and Daryl with the new group and the others in tow. They met in the town hall and interviewed them all together to find out more about them and where they could fit in best for work. There were two women roughly in their 30's, Karina and Kate, who were cousins as well as co-owners of a home design and build 's how they met Dan. Dan was in his 40's worked on the construction company that was frequently hired to help out the cousins.

Last to interview was the man that Connie walked in with: Blake. Blake was a rugged and handsome man in his 30's. It didn't hurt that he was also charming, funny, and spoke with purpose. He was also partially deaf and worked with Dan in construction. He was injured in an accident at the work site when a wooden beam swung and hit him on the head. He was completely deaf in his right ear and hard of hearing in his left. He said how grateful he was to be there and how happy he was to meet someone like Connie.

Hearing him say how happy he was to meet Connie made Daryl slightly upset, but he knew that this group of people would be a great asset to the community in rebuilding the weak sections of the wall. Obviously, counsel had decided that they would work best with fixing the wall and prepared a group to work with them. As they all walked out of the town hall, Daryl saw Connie and went to go talk to her, but Blake beat him to it.

"_Looks like I'll be working on the wall! Finally being put to work,_" he signed to Connie.

"_Good!" _She signed emphatically. "_Just work hard and show your worth. You'll be accepted. I just know it."_

"_I know that they are getting a team together. Care to join me with the rebuild?" _Blake crossed his fingers hoping she would.

"_Not my thing. Though, we both know I am stronger than you." _She smiled and flexed her muscles and he poked her arms. They both laughed.

Daryl, watching from afar on the front porch, started feeling something he hadn't felt in a long time: jealousy. He wondered why she never joked with him like that. Maybe he just wasn't good enough. Maybe she found him more attractive. Maybe he just wasn't learning sign language fast enough and she liked that she had someone better to talk to. His insecurities started to weigh on him like a bag of rocks, when Lydia and Dog came and sat next to him. Daryl nodded at Lydia and she tossed an apple at him while Dog happily went right up to Daryl and licked his face. He winced trying to act like he hated it, but it secretly loved Dog kisses. Lydia looked over to the direction that Daryl was looking.

"Who's the new guy talking to Connie?" She inferred.

"Part of the new group here to help us with the wall." Daryl was short and closed off. He bit into the apple.

"You don't seem to happy about that. What's wrong?" Lydia knew that something was on Daryl's mind. Daryl just grunted and shrugged his shoulders as he petted Dog and continued to eat his apple, not making eye contact.

"You need to tell her how you feel before it's too late. If Henry were still here…" she stopped to get her emotions together, "If he were still here, I would make sure he knew exactly how I felt. I'm sure Maggie and Michonne would agree. I wouldn't want to spend a day without him knowing because you never know which day could be your last. Especially in this world."

Daryl nodded and put his hand on her shoulder. She was growing up to be such a smart and thoughtful kid. He was proud of how far she had come and much life he had brought into this community. He hopes that the rest of the community will soon see that too and cut her some slack. Afterall, he knows a lot about being judged solely for how you were raised and where you come from.

"Also, if you don't tell her soon, I will be super mad because I like Connie a lot and I want her to stick around. She's been helping me with my writing assignments unlike _someone _and I want to get good grades." She got up and walked towards Connie to say hello.

Connie saw Lydia approach out of the corner of her eye and opened up her arms for a warm embrace. Lydia's face lit up. Connie and Daryl had truly been so kind and have showed that they genuinely care for her. Daryl had seen this and it put a smile on his face. He knew he had to tell Connie how he felt sooner rather than later. He decided to go study up on some sign language to find the right words to explain how he feels, but it was also his shift to keep guard at the gate.

Daryl had swigged some water and pulled out his heavily used ASL book from his back pocket, getting ready for a long study session. He kept it there always in case he ever wanted to talk to Connie or practice so he had more to say to her. It was used so frequently that it left an imprint in his back pocket and started poking a hole in the corner. As he was studying up, the construction crew started working on the wall next to him. He couldn't help then to think about Connie and Blake any time he saw Blake. Aaron and Connie came up as the team had explained what they needed to reinforce the walls. It looked like Blake had cracked some kind of joke as Aaron started to laugh, and this prompted Connie to touch his shoulder and smile. Every laugh, touch, smile that Connie had gotten from Blake just felt like another cut to his heart. The jealousy started to rear its head again. When Connie and Aaron went to go grab some extra supplies for them, he noticed that Blake has been watching them walk away; Swooning over her like Daryl does. She seemed to turn around and give him a wave and thumbs up. Do they already have inside jokes that he didn't know about? Connie made her way back with supplies as Aaron waved goodbye to the group. He had to go check in with Gracie, as he always does after trips away to give her another license plate to add to their collection.

As Connie approached, she looked up to see Daryl and signed, "_Talk later?" _Oh no. This was it. She was going to tell him about her and Blake. He just ignored her and went back to pretending to be busy on watch. She frowned in confusion. Blake had tapped her shoulder and Daryl secretly started watching them out of the corner of his eye. Even though he knew a good amount of words, he couldn't quite make out the entire conversation as he also was trying to be sneaky about watching them. He could make out the occasional words and phrases: "_I like you", date, dinner. _He was watching Blake ask her out and Connie giving an excitable thumbs up. He was at full rage mode jealousy. He had decided he couldn't take it and walked off.

"Take over. I need a break," Daryl angrily told Magna.

"We just started," She said in confusion as he stormed off. Connie saw this and came running behind him. She tapped him on the shoulder to stop him.

"_What's wrong?" _She signed in worry.

"_Why do you care? Go be with your boyfriend over there!" _he replied angrily and continued to storm off. Now Connie was confused because this wasn't like him.

"_What are you talking about, Daryl?"_

"_I've seen you two flirting all day. I saw him ask you out. You clearly like him and he likes you. I don't need to waste my time-" _Connie stopped him and shook her head in response, not in anger, but in disappointment that he would think that. As he started trailing off, he saw her write something in her notepad. He always did love when she did that. He would always get excited at what she would have to say, but this time, he was afraid it was something that was going to hurt him. Before she handed him the paper, she said one more thing.

"_Blake is gay. He likes Aaron. I've been helping him with asking Aaron out on a date." _She carefully folded the piece of paper, gently took his hand, and placed the paper directly in the center of his palm. She gave a half smile before walking away. Daryl, feeling like a complete fool and like he might have just blown things with Connie, opened the note: _The only person I want to be my boyfriend is __YOU__, dummy._

Daryl's cheeks turned warm and that warmth flowed through his body again. The fire was back, but this time more fierce than ever. Daryl ran after Connie who was walking towards the pantry to put away the supplies that she had brought from Hilltop. He caught up with her and gently touched her shoulder.

She turned around, embarrassment and a tinge of sadness on her face. She was worried that he didn't want her. That maybe she had made their connection up in her head and that she just ruined the relationship to one of the people she was closest to in this world. She looked down, too embarrassed to look up at him. He lifted her chin so she could see what he had to say.

"_I'm sorry," _He signed. "_I was a jerk._"

Connie half smirked and replied, "_It's ok."_

He held up the note and she blushed.

Daryl swallowed hard, "_I like you, to. A lot." _he signed confidently. He'd been practicing. He then pointed to his lips so she could read them. "I was jealous of Blake. I didn't know what we were and if you could even like a guy like me."

She furled her eyebrows and smiled, "_A guy like you and a girl like me, we fit together." _She intertwined her fingers with his. She kissed him on the cheek gently and as she pulled away, they locked eyes. He brushed her cheek with his free hand and moved it softly behind her neck, leaning in for the kiss that they had nearly had before. They let the world slip away for a moment as this kiss made time slow down. It was sweet and it was magical. Daryl didn't have to be alone anymore and he could feel all of his worries and insecurities slip away. As long as they had each other in their lives, they knew this world could be a happy one.


End file.
